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partners, by coordinating their behavior. This
interpersonal coordination underlies a wide
array of human activities, ranging from more
complicated ones like ballroom dancing to
simply walking or talking with friends.
In conversations, interpersonal coordination
is found when people adjust the duration of
their utterances and their speech rate to one
another so that they can enable turn-taking
to occur, without talking over each other or
experiencing awkward silences. Since people
are very well-trained in having conversations,
they are often able to take turns within
milliseconds, resulting in a conversational flow
of smoothly meshed behaviors. A lack of flow
is characterized by interruptions, simultaneous
speech or mutual silences. Avoiding these
features is important for defining and
maintaining interpersonal relationships.
The need to belong has been identified as
one of the most basic of human motivations
and plays a role in many human behaviors.
That conversational flow is related to
belonging may be most easily illustrated
by the consequences of flow disruptions.
What happens when the positive experience
of flow is disrupted by, for instance, a brief
silence? We all know that silences can be
pretty awkward, and research shows that
even short disruptions in conversational
flow can lead to a sharp rise in distress levels.
In movies, silences are often used to signal
non-compliance or confrontation (Piazza,
2006). Some researchers even argue that
‘silencing someone’ is one of the most serious
forms of exclusion. Group membership is of
elementary importance to our wellbeing and
because humans are very sensitive to signals
of exclusion, a silence is generally taken as a
sign of rejection. In this way, a lack of flow in a
conversation may signal that our relationship
is not as solid as we thought it was.
Another aspect of synchrony is that people
often try to validate their opinions to those
202
Reading
of others. That is, people like to see others as
having similar ideas or worldviews as they
have themselves, because this informs people
that they are correct and their worldviews
are justified. One way in which people can
justify their worldviews is by assuming that,
as long as their conversations run smoothly,
their interaction partners probably agree with
them. This idea was tested by researchers
using video observations. Participants
imagined being one out of three people
in a video clip who had either a fluent
conversation or a conversation in which
flow was disrupted by a brief silence. Except
for the silence, the videos were identical.
After watching the video, participants were
asked to what extent the people in the
video agreed with each other. Participants
who watched the fluent conversation rated
agreement to be higher than participants
watching the conversation that was disrupted
by a silence, even though participants were
not consciously aware of the disruption. It
appears that the subjective feeling of being
out of sync informs people of possible
disagreements, regardless of the content of
the conversation.
Because people are generally so well-
trained in having smooth conversations,
any disruption of this flow indicates that
something is wrong, either interpersonally or
within the group as a whole. Consequently,
people who do not talk very easily may
be incorrectly understood as being less
agreeable than those who have no difficulty
keeping up a conversation. On a societal
level, one could even imagine that a lack
of conversational flow may hamper the
integration of immigrants who have not
completely mastered the language of their
new country yet. In a similar sense, the ever-
increasing number of online conversations
may be disrupted by misinterpretations and
anxiety that are produced by insuperable
delays in the Internet connection. Keeping
in mind the effects of conversational flow
for feelings of belonging and validation
may help one to be prepared to avoid such
misunderstandings in future conversations.
Questions 27-32
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in the text?
In b o x e s 2 7 - 3 2 o n y o u r a n s w e r s h e e t , w rite
Y ES
if th e s t a t e m e n t a g r e e s with th e c l a i m s o f th e w riter
N O
if th e s t a t e m e n t c o n t r a d ic t s th e c l a i m s o f th e w riter
N O T G IV E N
if it i s i m p o s s i b l e to s a y w h a t th e w riter th in k s a b o u t th is
27 Conversation occupies much of our time.
28 People asse ss information according to how readily they can understand it.
29 A quick response to a question is thought to show a lack of knowledge.
30 Video observations have often been used to asse ss conversational flow.
31
People who talk less often have clearer ideas than those who talk a lot.
32 Delays in online chat fail to have the same negative effect as disruptions that occur
in natural conversation.
203
Test 3
Questions 33-40
C o m p le t e th e s u m m a r y b e lo w .
C h o o s e
N O M O R E T H A N TW O W O R D S
fro m th e te x t fo r e a c h a n s w e r .
W rite y o u r a n s w e r s in b o x e s 3 3 - 4 0 o n y o u r a n s w e r s h e e t .
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